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How much does nitromethane cost per gallon?

By James Austin

Nitromethane used to power the engines of NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars costs about $16 US per gallon!

How much HP does nitromethane add?

With nitromethane, you only need 1.7 pounds of air. Drag racing motors are big, with an average engine displacement of 8.9 liters. When supercharged, they can produce about 6,000 horsepower.

How much does it cost for a Top Fuel dragster to make one pass?

Top fuel cost between $8k – $10K PER PASS. There are 24 NHRA national events.

The engine will consume 22.75 gallons of fuel during warmup, burnout, staging, and the quarter-mile run. 900Cost, in dollars, of a 55-gallon drum of nitromethane fuel. Current regulations allow a maximum of 85 percent nitromethane in the fuel mix.

What happens if you put nitromethane in a car?

The big advantage of nitromethane is that you can get a lot more power from each explosion inside the engine. Pound for pound, nitromethane is less energetic than gasoline, but you can burn a lot more nitromethane in a cylinder. The net result is more power per stroke.

This means that nitro fuels carry two oxygen atoms as part of their chemical makeup. While nitromethane (CH3NO2) does not mix with gasoline, nitropropane (C3H7NO2) does. The whole object of an engine is to ingest air, which, when combined with the proper amount of fuel, creates a combustible mixture that makes power.

What is the fastest 1/4 mile time ever recorded?

Fastest 1/4 mile ever 3.58 secs @ 386 mph (621.61 km/h)Santa Pod dragstrip is the venue in which the current world drag racing record, a time of 3.58 seconds

How many horsepower is a Nascar?

The engine in today’s NASCAR racecars produce upward of 750 horsepower, and they do it without turbochargers, superchargers or particularly exotic components.

If a Top Fuel car’s engine is not running properly and unburned fuel builds up in the engine, it can explode with a force strong enough to crack the engine’s head or block. The engines and components are under so much pressure that all of the connections need to be inspected and repaired on a regular basis.

How do you make nitromethane?

Preparation. Nitromethane is produced industrially by combining propane and nitric acid in the gas phase at 350–450 °C (662–842 °F). This exothermic reaction produces the four industrially significant nitroalkanes: nitromethane, nitroethane, 1-nitropropane, and 2-nitropropane.

What is the Top Fuel dragster world record?

The fastest speed on record is 338.17 mph (Top Fuel) at 1,000 feet. A Top Alcohol Dragster can travel as fast as 285 mph in the quarter-mile. However, in drag racing, elapsed time is the determining factor in winning rounds. The quickest Top Fuel pass on record is 3.623 seconds.

Why did NHRA change to 1000 feet?

NHRA cuts race distance to 1000 feet: Move made to enhance safety after Kalitta’s death. After Kalitta’s crash, several drivers complained that the runoff area at the Englishtown track was not long enough. The NHRA said the change was made in collaboration with the race teams.

Garlits was forced to retire from racing in 1992 – at the age of 60 – due to a detached retina in his eye. He made two brief comebacks in 1998 and again in 2003, attaining a personal best of 323 mph in 4.7 seconds (on a quarter-mile, before NHRA scaled back Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars to 1,000-foot lanes).

What’s the cost of a Top Fuel engine?

Nitro Funny Car racing has never been more competitive than since 2006. The cost of a complete top fuel dragster engine is in the $58,000 range depending on options. These Top Fuel engines make 11,000 horses and power the fastest-accelerating drag cars in the world.

How much does a Nascar engine cost?

The cost of a single engine is about $100,000. The primary sources for engines in NASCAR are Toyota Racing Development, Earnhardt Childress Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Yates Racing. Those companies will provide as many as 40 engines for the Feb. 26 Daytona 500.

What is the difference between nitrous oxide and nitromethane?

Nitro methane is a fuel used by top class Drag bikes/cars and is in no way similar or linked to nitrous oxide. In fact they couldn’t be more different, as nitro methane is a flammable fuel, while nitrous oxide is a non-flammable oxidiser.

“after nitromethane is burned it produces large amounts of nitric acid, which is not only corrosive but toxic.” “If you are running methanol, there is no problem as nitromethane and methanol mix freely.”